Customers contact organizations such as telecommunications companies in order to accomplish tasks including ordering a service, requesting repair service, or asking questions about their bill. When a customer contacts the organization, the customer's call is connected to a user interface which may be a customer service representative or any of a number of automated systems. Currently, when designing a system for communicating with customers, the determination of the type interface or dialogue model a customer will interact with is decided at an early stage within the design of the communication system. Typically, designers choose a primary interface, such as a speech directed dialogue interface, and a secondary or back-up interface, such as a touch tone interface, in case the primary interface fails.
As a communication system changes over time, the existing dialogue model is often ill suited for newly added tasks. However, the existing dialogue model is often maintained because redesigning the system to incorporate a new dialogue model is prohibitively expensive. This may lead to a decrease in the effectiveness of the system as well as customer dissatisfaction and frustration.